Sony CEO Believes PS4 Will be More Profitable Than PS2

News
By Catherine Cai
published

Sony CEO Kaz Hirai expressed confidence in PlayStation 4's ability to pull in revenue.

In a corporate strategy meeting, Sony CEO Kaz Hirai showed his confidence in PlayStation 4's performance, to the point where he claims that Sony's newest console can surpass the success that the company's best-selling console—the PlayStation 2—had.

"It is likely that PS4 will become the platform which exceeds the profits earned with PS2," stated Hirai.

The PlayStation 4 has so far sold 7 million units worldwide last year, a far cry from the 155 million units that the PlayStation 2 has sold. However, Hirai's confidence in the PlayStation 4 doesn't mean he believes that the PlayStation 4 is going to outpace the PlayStation 2's unit sales. Rather, the PlayStation 4 has different revenue streams to tap into, such as digital sales.

This is all good news, considering the dismal state that Sony is in. Last year, it lost $1.24 billion USD and the company projects it's going to lose another $500 million USD.  

Catherine Cai
20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Draven35
    IF they really expect that, they need to get the price closer to the PS2.
    Reply
  • hakesterman
    I doubt that will ever happen simply because i don't believe the life cycle of the PS4 will be 7 years like it was for PS3. I think the PS4 lasts 3 years before developers say give us a bigger CPU and 4 more Gigs of GDDR Memory.
    Reply
  • icepick314
    Didn't Sony say same thing to PS3 launch?
    Reply
  • neon neophyte
    they are crushing microsoft in this gen and it is only going to get better for sony.

    with each game release people are finally seeing just how under powered the xbox one is compared to ps4.

    lower resolutions, studdering. it just becomes more apparent with each game release.

    really though, i said this was going to happen before the system even launched. you just had to look at the hardware to know.
    Reply
  • dstarr3
    The next generation of consoles will have vastly superior hardware and will finally be able to deliever 1080p@60fps minimum on all games, just after we've all upgraded to 4K.
    Reply
  • Shin-san
    It's possible. The PS4 might actually be sold close to profit

    The next generation of consoles will have vastly superior hardware and will finally be able to deliever 1080p@60fps minimum on all games, just after we've all upgraded to 4K.
    Hopefully you are right, but something tells me that the resolution will probably drop to 720p again
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    with each game release people are finally seeing just how under powered the xbox one is compared to ps4.
    Actually looking at reliable, unbiased sources tends to give the conclusion that they're both very close. Side by side with identical displays most users would have a hard time telling the difference. With that being said XB1 is a bit harder to work with and get the most out of - you have to utilize the eDRAM and move engines to their fullest. It's still easier to develop for than the previous gen, especially PS3.

    Anyway, back to the original subject. I think Kaz is correct if you take him literally. However, if you adjust for inflation, I'm not so sure. If you adjust for the larger audience (more gamers) it doesn't look as good. PS2 era will be hard for them to truly top. Although personally I thought the Dreamcast was a better system. :P
    Reply
  • iam2thecrowe
    I say bring back true consoles, and they will sell, i dont call xbone and ps4 consoles, i call them media centre pc's. Bring back rom cartridges, i mean really, we shouldnt have to install games from a disk on a console, or spend hours downloading, just plug in the cartridge and play, no loading screens. We hve come far enough in flash technology that it can be done cheaply now.
    Reply
  • jdog2pt0
    I really have a hard time believing that unless the video game industry goes through some major changes. If you look at things now vs where they were, the amount of quality (and amount in general) of games being released is a far cry of what it once was. Developers don't want to take risks anymore, and are instead only focusing on what they know sells, along with the fact that the budgets that go into making games anymore are absurd.
    Reply
  • neon neophyte
    if they were close xbox1 wouldnt be running lower resolutions is half the games or having screen tearing issues where ps4 does not. or studdering.

    they arent that close.
    Reply